My Escape
by ladybobcat54
Summary: Tanya hasn't exactly had an easy life so far. Now, she has escaped that, but the memories still plague her. Her only escape: marching band. Music means the world to her and she never feels more alive than when she's on the field. However, she still feels a hole in her life, and a determination to fill it in the only way she knows how. Rated T just to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

**A/N: Hello readers! Welcome to my first marching band fic, I really hope you enjoy it, please let me know what you think!**

High school: Definition A (According to Merriam-Webster): a school especially in the United States usually including grades 9–12 or 10–12. Definition B: A hellhole designed to overly complicate the lives of teenagers with senseless drama, no matter how many _real_ problems may already be occurring in their lives.

The second definition isn't exactly a professional opinion, well not officially, anyway. It's my own, personal evaluation. My name is Tanya, Tanya Howard. As you may have guessed, my life hasn't exactly been simple. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

* * *

"Tanya!" A young voice squealed.

I groaned, slowly lifting my eyelids and looked at my alarm clock. 7:45. I was late. Muttering profanities to myself, I jumped out of bed and dressed myself quickly in gym shorts and a grey t-shirt. I stood in front of the mirror as I pulled my long brown hair into a ponytail. I ran out of my room to brush my teeth and almost collided with someone. Trenton.

Trenton is my older brother. I live with him, his wife, Benni, and their three year old daughter, Rachel (the source of my wakeup call this morning). He stood an impressive six feet, 3 inches tall and was in very good shape, a fact Benni never forgot to point out. I noticed his short hair was messy and he had yet to shave everything but his goatee.

"What's the hurry?" He asked as I sprinted into the bathroom.

"I'm late!"

Once I was done brushing my teeth I tore down the stairs and pulled on my tennis shoes by the door before bolting outside to my car and speeding off. I looked down at the clock. 7:50, not bad. I had ten minutes to make it to the high school. I could work with that.

What was I so late for? It was summer vacation; school didn't start for almost a month. Why would a teenage girl be going to her high school now of all times? It just so happens that a very important school event would be beginning today. Band camp.

Our band was one of the largest in class 3A and was very competitive. We competed in some elite competitions and did very well. We were the most successful competitive activity at our school, but try getting the jocks to admit that.

I play the trumpet and have been playing lead part since I was a sophomore. This year, my senior year, however, I had my sights set on the position of section leader and today would make or break that goal.

I arrived at the school at 7:59, one minute to spare. I grabbed my trumpet out of the backseat of my car and sprinted into the school through the side door that led directly into the band room. Right on time, good. Being late may have hurt my chances at section leader.

I took a seat with the other trumpets as our director, Mr. Callahan, began speaking. We had all been given our music at the end of the previous school year and were expected and trusted to practice over the summer.

Mr. Callahan gave the usual lecture about how they needed to welcome all of the freshmen into the band and help them. It wasn't that big of a deal. The previous year they incoming freshmen had come to visit and spent some time in the band room and met a lot of the band and they had come to know what was expected of them.

"Along with the freshmen, we also have a new student joining us this year as a senior," Mr. Callahan continued, "His name is Maxwell White. Maxwell, would you please stand up and introduce yourself?"

A boy on the end of my row stood up. He had dark, sandy blonde shaggy hair and was reasonably tall. I noted the trumpet case sitting at his feet. I prayed to myself that he was good, or at the very least committed.

"Hi," he said nervously, "I'm Max, I'm a trumpet player. I moved here from Springview, about five hours from here. Our band there was a lot smaller than yours and I'm really looking forward to being a part of a larger, more competitive band."

Callahan smiled, "It's great to have you Max, you'll be a great addition to our trumpet line, I'm sure of it."

He went on talking about his plans for us for the season, practice schedules, leadership roles, etc. For the most part it was the same speech he gave at the beginning of every season. He gave it mostly for the freshmen, but some upper classmen probably needed a refreshed, knowing them.

"Now that we've covered what we need to for now, get your instruments out," Callahan said at last, "Let's see how well you've prepared."

I pulled out my trumpet and music. I had it memorized for the most part and from what I know of my band, so did most of them. Once everyone was prepared, we silenced and looked back at Callahan, next to him, stood the drum majors.

"You all remember our drum majors, Cornell Riffen, Grant Davis, and Danny Blair," Callahan said, gesturing to each of them respectively.

Cornell was also a senior, but Grant and Danny were both juniors. This made Cornell the head drum major, the way he saw it anyway. I knew this better than anyone because he was my boyfriend. I had to admit, he had an ego, it couldn't be denied. He could be sweet when he wanted to be though. It was just a matter of him choosing to…

The whole bands eyes were on the three drum majors. Cornell stood front and center, while the other two stood on his flanks. He raised his hands and counted us off and we were all more than ready to officially begin marching band.

I was very impressed with how good we sounded, and I think it was safe to say that Callahan was as well. Danny and Grant both looked impressed with our sound as well, Cornell, however, held a sour look on his face, which I tried my best to ignore.

We spent the rest of the morning working the music, and by lunch I couldn't have been happier with how things were going so far. When we dismissed to go eat, I put my trumpet away and then went to meet Cornell by the door.

"That was great, wasn't it?" I enthused.

"Are you kidding me? All summer to prepare and you guys couldn't do better than that?" Cornell spat.

"Excuse me? I thought we did really well for the first time together as an ensemble after the whole summer and with the freshmen added in."

Cornell rolled his eyes, "Whatever, I think you could have done better, and you'll never get section leader unless you push for perfection, you should know that, Tanya."

I rolled my eyes, but decided not to push the topic. Instead, I went to go eat with some of my friends while Cornell went to eat in Callahan's office with Danny and Grant. I found my best friend, Lydia, sitting in the hallway outside the band room. I took a seat across from her and watched her eat, now aware that I had forgotten my own lunch in my rush to leave the house this morning.

"How's Cornell?" She asked, not looking up from her food.

"Grouchy," I rolled my eyes, "But whatever."

"Hey," said a voice from the band room door. Tanya turned to see the new guy, Max, standing at the door, "Would you mind if I ate with you guys?"

We looked at each other and smiled in agreement, before nodding. Max took a seat next to Tanya.

"Thanks," he said, "I'd like to start in a smaller group and you two seem nice."

I smiled at him, "I get what you mean."

Suddenly, we heard shrill laughter coming from the end of the hall. The color guard had just finished their morning practice and was coming back to the band room for lunch. I could hear the obnoxious voice of the guard captain drifting down the hall before they even turned the corner. Candy Randal was a bottle blonde almost as skinny as her rifle and, as Lydia liked to put it, a skank. Most of the color guard followed in her wake. That's not to say they were all bad, there were some that were quite tolerable, Carrie Gavin for instance.

Candy gave Max a flirtatious smile as they walked by into the band room. Lydia and Tanya rolled their eyes.

"That was…different," Max said.

"I take it the guard at your old school wasn't like that?" I asked.

"Well, there weren't very many of them, like I said our band was small, but the ones who were in it were usually pretty nice."

"If only, if only," Lydia muttered.

I couldn't agree more with Lydia. When Max saw I didn't have any food and I explained why, he shared part of his with me, something I was quite grateful for. Once lunch was over, it was time to go outside and begin learning drill. The freshmen had learned how to march last week and were now ready to begin drill with the rest of us.

Cornell watched us sternly from atop the podium. Danny and Grant weren't in their positions to conduct at the thirty five yard lines, but they were still watching us as well, while Mr. Callahan instructed us from atop the bleachers.

By the end of the day, we had most of opener on the field and we would be adding music tomorrow. I was unbelievably excited as we walked back to the band room to put our instruments away and find out who the section leaders would be. Excited, but also very nervous, I could only imagine what Cornell would say if I didn't get section leader. He was all about "pushing for perfection" as he put it.

It seemed to take an eternity for everyone to put their stuff away and sit down. I took a deep breath as Callahan began to speak.

"After watching you today and from my prior knowledge, I have assigned leadership positions. As you know, the drum major and guard captain positions are already set, but now it's time for section leaders. To be a section leader, you must be a veteran of this band, that means freshmen and new students are not eligible. Seniors and juniors take precedence, as long as they have proven themselves responsible."

I was growing impatient.

"Alright, here we go," Callahan finally said, and he began listing off the section leaders. First flutes, then clarinets, then Lydia was announced as the saxophone's section leader. It seemed to take ages for him to reach the trumpets. I held my breath. "Tanya Howard."

I let the air out. I could feel the smile creeping up my face. This was going to be a great year.

**A/N: So, what'd you think! Please review, it's much appriciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

This was the greatest beginning to the season I could have asked for! Not only did I make section leader, we were doing great and it was only the first day. What more could we want?

Once Callahan was done announcing the section leaders, we were all told to go to his office along with the guard captain and drum majors. The office was a little small for all of these people, but it worked. Callahan was the last to enter the office. Once he shut the door and squeezed his way to his desk, he turned to us.

"Well congratulations," he said, "You are all leaders in this band. It's not just the drum majors, you're all important. Section leaders, you are responsible for just that, your sections. If someone in your section is struggling. If you have freshmen in your section, which most of you do, make sure they're getting everything. If there's a part in the music that needs worked out, schedule a sectional outside of rehearsal to work it out together. Overall, just take responsibility. You are the ones who are going to be asked the most questions."

We all nodded in understanding. It was an important job and it was important not to let it go to your head, but we were still excited and none of us could deny it. Looking around, I couldn't see too many of these people getting a big head. Callahan had made a good selection this year. Usually at least half of the section leaders had a big head to begin with, but it appeared Callahan had chosen to avoid that this year.

When the meeting with Callahan was over, I got my trumpet, and went out to the parking lot. I saw Cornell waiting for me by my car and I smiled and waved at him. He had no reaction; instead he stared sourly off into space.

"Hey," I said once I reached him.

"Want to come over? I need a ride home and you can hang around if you want," he said in an emotionless voice.

"Sure, I'll just call Trenton on the way," I said brightly.

We got in my car and I pulled out my phone and dialed Trenton's number before I pulled out of the parking lot. It rang three times before he picked up. It was just after 5:00 and he would have just gotten off work.

"Hey, Trenton, I'm going to Cornell's, ok?"

There was a pause before I heard him sigh, "Ok."

Trenton didn't really like Cornell, but he wasn't going to flat out say I couldn't date him. He said he wanted me to make my own mistakes. I didn't really like the way he put it, but I got to date Cornell, so I win, right?

Once I hung up the phone, we were almost to Cornell's house. The neighborhood was one of those gated ritzy ones where all of the houses look the same. All of these houses were enormous. It was rather intimidating, actually. I pulled into Cornell's driveway and he got out right away. I followed him into the house quickly.

Cornell lived with his mom and her boyfriend. His parents had gotten divorced about two years ago and she had gotten nearly everything. His dad had moved out to California and Cornell only saw him for a couple weeks over the summer. Not that Cornell minded, his dad was a workaholic and he rarely saw him before the divorce anyway.

The house was silent. We walked into the kitchen and saw a note on the refrigerator. Cornell pulled it off and read it, not letting me see.

"What's it say?" I asked when he put the note down.

"She and her boyfriend went out to dinner," he said, "So I guess you won't eat until you go home."

"What?"

"Well, I'm not hungry and I don't really feel like making anything right now."

I rolled my eyes, but didn't argue. People asked me all the time why I stayed with Cornell. Sometimes I even wondered that myself, to be honest. He really could be sweet when he tried, not that anyone ever believed me. Also, I had to admit, I felt sorry for him. He didn't have the best home life, considering he had almost zero relationship with his parents. I felt bad doing something that would make things worse.

Cornell led me down to the basement, which served as his personal game room. There was a big screen TV and a fancy sound system. Not to mention, he had every gaming system known to man and every game you could possibly imagine. Not that this mattered to me, I rarely got to play. Cornell preferred playing alone. Sometimes for fifteen minutes, sometimes for hours on end. It made me wonder why he even invited me over.

After over and hour of watching him play his games, I told him I had to go home. In reality, I was just bored and hungry. He waved goodbye, but didn't seem too effected.

I left his house and drove back to my house. When I walked inside, I found Trenton in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner. He gave me an odd look as I began digging through the refrigerator looking for something to eat.

"Didn't they feed you over there?" He asked.

I sighed, "No, his mom and her boyfriend went out and Cornell isn't much of a cook."

Even though I wasn't looking at him, I knew Trenton was rolling his eyes. He always got this way about Cornell, no matter what the issue. There was a reason I rarely brought Cornell over. He came over for dinner once and not only did Trenton not like Cornell, but Cornell didn't like Trenton. They rubbed each other the wrong way on every level. Trenton thought I could do better, I suppose. As for Cornell, he just hated anyone authoritative.

After I found myself some dinner, I went upstairs and took a shower and then I went to my room. I could hear Rachel squealing on the other side of the wall. There was rarely a peaceful moment around this house, I could only imagine what would happen when they had more kids.

I spent a lot of the night texting Lydia. Things quieted down a lot once Benni put Rachel to bed around 8:00. Not long after that, there was a knock at my door.

"Come in," I said from my desk chair.

The door opened and Trenton walked in, "So how was your first day?"

"Great, actually," I smiled broadly, "I got section leader!"

"I knew you could!"

"We got so much done today, it was unbelievable," I told him, "And we'll do more tomorrow, everything is going so well!"

He smiled, "That's good. What'd you do after band then, since you didn't eat dinner?"

"Nothing much," I said, looking down at my phone as Lydia sent me another text.

"Is that him?" Trenton asked, almost masking the disdain in his voice.

"No, it's Lydia."

He nodded, "Well, I need some sleep. Don't stay up too late; you don't want to run late again tomorrow."

I nodded and we told each other goodnight. I texted Lydia for a little longer before the two of us said goodnight as well. I turned off my light and crawled into bed. It had been a long day, and it wasn't long before I drifted off to sleep.

I was in a dimly lit room. I felt so small. So vulnerable. Then there she was, tall and intimidating, raising her hand to strike. I felt it collide with my face.

Then I was facing into the corner. I could hear her walking around behind me. Suddenly, there was a sound of ripping fabric and a searing pain at my shoulder. I could feel something sticky running down my back. I was scared. So scared.

Then there was screaming. Filling my ears. I couldn't escape it, I didn't know where it was coming from. Then came the voice.

"Tanya! TANYA!"

My eyes shot open. The lights were on and Trenton was standing over me, looking terrified and wearing only his pajama pants. My throat was soar. I was the one screaming.

"I- I'm sorry…" I stuttered, trying to catch my breath.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," I assured him.

"Tanya, I thought you said you stopped having nightmares," Trenton pressed.

"Trent, it's fine, it happens," I told him again, "You can't tell me you don't sometimes have them now."

He paused for a moment before whispering, "They were never as bad as yours, and I think you know that."

There was a knock on the already open door. Benni walked in holding Rachel on her hip. Tears were running down the little girl's face.

"See sweetie," Benni said to her daughter, "Everything's okay."

"Tanya was scweaming…" Rachel mumbled.

"I'm okay, Rachel," I assured her, "Just let your mommy put you to bed, everything's alright, I promise."

Rachel nodded and Benni smiled at me gratefully as they left my room. Trenton smiled at me as well, "Thanks for that."

I nodded.

"I just want to feel like you're okay," he said.

"I don't think either of us will ever be completely okay," I whispered.

He nodded, "Why don't we both go back to sleep? You have another day of band camp tomorrow and I have to work, alright? I think Benni probably has Rachel back in bed by now."

I agreed and he left my room, shutting the door behind him. I turned my light off, but it was quite a while before I went back to sleep.

**A/N: Thanks to those who read the first chapter. If you like it or even if you don't, please review. Positive comments are great but so is any constructive critisism you have to offer! Please and thank you!**


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